1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to exercise devices, and particularly to exercising devices of the type utilizing a rope wrapped around a shaft to create a frictional force resisting pull on the rope and having a shoulder screw mounting and a force gauge meter for force, heart, and time readings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various exercise apparatus have been proposed and implemented to facilitate exercise and to provide the user with a convenient means of achieving a desired level of fitness. The present invention relates to exercise devices of the type utilizing a rope wrapped around a shaft to create frictional force resisting pull on the rope. This genre of exercise device is shown in such patents as U.S. Pat. No. 4,040,627 issued to Useldinger Aug. 1977, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,446 issued to Moore Oct. 1981. In these devices, the rope is passed into a cavity in a housing having a center shaft. The rope is wrapped about the shaft and passed back out through the body member.
Using such prior devices, exercise is accomplished by pulling on one end of the rope against the frictional force created thereon in the device. The frictional force is adjusted by rotating the shaft relative to the housing. Although useful and effective, such prior devices did not provide the user with a visual indication of the resistive force exerted on the rope, which resistive force is proportional to the number of turns the rope is wound around the center shaft. As such, the user was unable to see what force and/or heart readings were being exerted during use, nor could the user conveniently time the duration of exercise. Further, such prior devices, although generally safe and efficient, lacked a truly efficient locking means to prevent accidental release of the rope during use.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a friction type exercise device utilizing a rope wrapped around a shaft to create a frictional force resisting pull on the rope which includes a force gauge meter for measuring force and time readings, and a shoulder mounting screw to prevent accidental release of the rope or central shaft and which is simple, safe, and highly effective in use, and which inexpensive to manufacture.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.